I decided it was time for a second run at a live tournament. The Thursday £50 freezeout at The International is the obvious alternative to their £100 Saturday event, and harks back to the similar Wednesday event at The Gutshot. Thursday is also one of the main nights for PLO action (although there tends to be a game most nights now).
So, off we go. Arriving a little early, I have time to make a few quid at the PLH game and then lose £200+ in a short stint at the PLO before it's time to make a run at the freezeout.
Obviously my Plan B is to be out early to play cash. However, Plan A is certainly to make a deep run in the tournament. Previously, in fact, I have cashed 2 times out of 3 appearances - not bad (although a very small sample).
It's 5,000 chips on a 20 minute clock - so it's pretty deep at the start. However, I nearly don't make it to hand 2, let alone level 2. The action is folded to the button who makes it 3xBB. I decide that he looks like a light raiser and re-raise to 625 with Tc9c. On the AA9 flop, I reckon he probably didn't have an Ace so I check-raise only to be faced with a 3-bet that would see me putting 2/3rd of my chips in (probably drawing nearly dead). I beat a hasty retreat.
I continue to yo-yo around as I am involved in nearly every hand - with AJ I make top two pair on the flop and pick up a pot. Then, after raising with 5-2o in mid-position, I bet the deuce on the turn and then when another deuce comes on the river I get paid off on a value bet as well !
Apparently the other player didn't put me on a deuce ....
Almost back where I started, when I pick up AJ-suited. I don't really want to play it o.o.p. but after UTG opens for 275, there are three callers already by time it comes to me in the small blind. I feel I have to put in 250 more getting > 4:1.
Flop is JT6 (2 diamonds). UTG bets 200 (?) and this is raised to 600 before it comes to me. I decide to proceed with my check-raise plan (despite the intermediate raiser) and make it 2,100. UTG calls and the other raiser now folds.
Hmm.... an 8 on the turn also puts 2 clubs on board. I don't really want to put any more chips in so I check, and it is checked behind. On the 7c river, I face an 800 bet into a 6,000 pot ! Massive calling odds but I eventually make what I think it is an important and disciplined fold at this stage - I am now losing to any 9, as well as AA KK QQ and a club flush, and 2prs like JT etc. etc.
It is hard to put UTG on a really big hand here but I MUST be losing so I decide it is better to save 25% of my re-halved chips. I really can't be sure he will fold to a shove, so fold it is and he shows me QQ.
I continue to be pretty active, though. I play another hand with 5-2o against the same non-believer. After raising pre I come out betting on the turn where we are looking at 864-3. He folds and I show the 5-2 except when I turn it over it turns out to be 7-4o. Oh well, probably winning anyway.
After recovering (again) to an acceptable stack, I do rock up as we lose players and get very much into one-move territory as my stack is around 4 - 6k with blinds now 200-400. It seems to be push-o'clock when I find AhKh on the button, facing an UTG raise to 1,100. I push for 4,200 more, and get a call from 33. A near perfect 50-50 and one of my crucial races today.
The flop is helpful ... Jh ... then Queen and Ten ! The pair is dead to running cards, which don't come.
Another moment of ( I think ) good tournament discipline comes up soon. I have raised to 1,100 in the cut-off with AQ. Button and the BB call (200/400 blinds). Flop is Queen high but nasty: QJJ (two hearts; I have the heart Ace in fact). Checked to me, and I check - I don't want to get too busy on a paired board (playing PLO will do that to you).
Button bets 2,000 and now the aggressive BB player moves in for a similar stack to me - a bit over 10k - in fact all the stacks in the hands are around this size.
I really have to think one of them has a Jack, so I fold to live another day. After a bit of a dwell the button calls as well with KK ! BB has KQ !!! Maybe if I call the flop all-in, the button would actually fold and I would be MASSIVE.
Kings hold up. Good discipline, or wrong decision but right result ?
After making a raise with AT-suited in the cut-off and folding to a push, I am drifting back into one-move land again and decided to push with KQ utg (that is the new button, I hear). Mo really has to call with JJ - I have him covered by just 2 or 3k and the river finally brings my King.
He continues to remind me about this hand for the next 12 hours !
Up to about 12k now but with blinds 500/1k it is not great. On the other hands, even average chips is barely 15 big blinds.
Now, Aces in mid-position. UTG very tight player limps, and I take a chance by limping also in mid-position - the player on my left has a lot of chips, and he is the one I think may take a stab.
However, not to be. We see the flop 3-way with the BB and the UTG. AK3 with 2 diamonds. That'll do ! Checked around, but I bet 2k on the turn (offsuit 7). BB calls leaving himself < 2k behind, which he puts in on the river (Jack). I call, and top set is good vs Qd8d (nut flush draw).
17 left now and it took 40mins to lose another player. That could very well have been me. At 800/1,600 Lee Boys makes it 3,600 (I thought it was 3,600. He said afterwards that he made it 3,600 MORE).
Well, I have QcJc and I thought at the time that he was raising some hands he can fold to a shove even though the shove is only 7,200 more. If he calls I am only really in troble vs AA KK QQ JJ AQ AJ KQ KJ (hmm... actually that is quite a lot of hands ! )
He calls with AK. Oops. After a paired flop, though, a Queen on the turn - BOOM !
It's my night. I can feel it.
I now make some good progress making an uncalled rrai with AQ, then limping with AQ to face an all-in shove by the BB which I snapped to see A3. I flopped a straight to get it over with !
All of a sudden after a deal for 10th, we are down to the final 9 with me sitting just above average on 41,500. Jay Luck the clear leader on 71k.
These final tables can seem to go on forever even though the average stack is barely more than 10BB. However in this case, it was instant action:
First hand I am in the BB with Lee in the Small. He completes and I check with 54o. The flop comes 876dd. Lee checks and I think it will look right for me to take a small stab - I push out 6k. Lee insta-shoves for about 22k, and I burn call.
He's not dead, with Jd2d, but there's no help. You, sir, have been H-bombed. I think we will hear from Lee again about the 2 hands.
I add a useful 25k or so.
Next hand (that's hand #2 of 2 - count'em) I am obviously in the SB and when no one calls, I think A8s is plenty to shove on the shortish stack in the BB. He calls almost immediately, so I am surprised to see him table A5. Another one gone, and suddenly I am in the chip lead !
All good news for Sven who started the final table with only 2 BB and has gone 2 places up the money !
I fold a hand, then on hand #4 I think it is going to be victim #3. I make it 7,500 with JsTs and get a call from the BB. The flop is unbelievable - QsTd9s. I have the middle pair with the open-ended straight flush draw. Check-bet 12k-call. Turn: 6s. Well, check-push-call (19k).
He has the As8s - always going in. I'm running well, but not well enough to hit my one out.
That's a slug gone and 4 hands later, I shove when the button raises (I have AT). He calls with AJ. All of a sudden I am in 7th place !
w.o.w. !
Wondering if I can lose less chips on the JTs and ATs hands, I find myself in push city to stay afloat until the following hand occurs:
Steve (a very tight player) opens for 12k (blinds 3k/6k) under the gun and I find AhTh on the button. I raise all in to 29k - not much choice about it. I hope to race and win and I think there is SOME chance he folds. But then Jay moves all in over the top - not good news !
I expect now to play the pot heads up with Jay,but Steve calls as well after checking that he will be placed higher than me if we both go out this hand.
I am expecting to be in very bad shape, but it's as good as I could possibly hope for - 88 for Jay and 66 for Steve (strange call I think). When a Ten comes, I triple up to take the chip lead back again on 87k.
I am raising most hands now and I have enough chips that I can call the pushes - this way I take out Adam in 5th when he pushes back with JT and my Q9 stands up. After Jay took out Mo Rashid, I then re-shoved on Dan when he raised my blind; he decided to take a stand with K5 - in bad shape to my K8.
Down to the last two. Luck by Name vs. Luck by Nature.
I wish in hindsight that I had taken a couple of minutes now to get an accurate count and have a think about how to play the heads up with Jay. It's absolutely ages since I have been at this stage, and it was an interesting situation with the blinds now 4,000/8,000 and with our average stack of 135k. We start the heads up too close to call in chips.
I think I was not aggressive enough, either in raising or perhaps even in calling Jay's shoves. In the end after only about a dozen hands or so, Jay limped on the button and I shoved with A3 only to walk into her trap: pocket Jacks were plenty good enough (I did hit a 3 !)
So, 2nd. My best performance for a while, and 3 final tables out of 4 (obviously that can't last !) but as always in tournaments I'm never happy short of winning the thing !
No comments:
Post a Comment